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Notre Dame women's basketball to play at Ole Miss in 2025 ACC/SEC Challenge

IMG_9992by:Tyler Horka•06/12/25•

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Ole Miss Rebels head coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin watches in the second half against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the NCAA Tournament second round game at the Purcell Pavilion. (Photo by Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports)

Notre Dame women’s basketball will make an early trip to the Magnolia State for the 2025 ACC/SEC Challenge. The Fighting Irish play at Ole Miss on Dec. 4, per a release from the Atlantic Coast Conference on Thursday.

The Irish and Rebels have played just once ever. Notre Dame beat Ole Miss, 71-56, in the second round of the NCAA Tournament in 2024. The Irish were hosting at Purcell Pavilion in South Bend, Ind., as a No. 2 seed in the tourney.

Last season, Notre Dame was a No. 3 seed and lost in the Sweet 16 for the fourth consecutive year. Ole Miss, meanwhile, also made it to the Sweet 16 as a No. 5 seed. The Rebels defeated No. 12 seed Ball State and No. 4 seed Baylor before falling to No. 1 seed UCLA. The Irish beat No. 14 seed Stephen F. Austin and No. 6 seed Michigan but were ousted by No. 2 seed TCU.

When Yolett McPhee-McCuin took over as the Ole Miss head coach in 2018, she inherited a program that hadn’t made it to the NCAA Tournament since 2007. But in just four years, McPhee-McCuin brought the Rebels back to the postseason. She had a 9-23 record in year one and improved that to 23-7 by year four. In year three, the Rebels were the WNIT runner-up.

Ole Miss took in transfers from Mississippi State, Ohio State, Georgia Tech, Virginia and Central Florida this offseason. The Rebels also lost four players to the portal, a common in-out ratio in this era of college athletics. Notre Dame lost four players to the portal and took in five as well.

Per ESPN’s Charlie Creme, Ole Miss brought in two of the top 19 transfers on the market. He rated former Ohio State Buckeye Cotie McMahon the No. 3 transfer in the cycle. He put former Virginia Cavalier Latasha Lattimore at No. 19.

For reference, Notre Dame did not welcome any top-20 transfers to South Bend according to Creme’s rankings. The Irish did, though, say goodbye to Creme’s No. 2 transfer, graduate senior guard Olivia Miles, and his No. 15 transfer, sophomore center Kate Koval.

Needless to say, Notre Dame will have its hands full on the road in this year’s ACC/SEC Challenge. In comparison, the Irish took down the No. 4 team, Texas, 80-70 in overtime in South Bend in this same event last December.

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